I tend to be very independent, but one thing I will never be ashamed to say is that I miss my mom too. So we headed to Portland for Memorial Day Weekend and joined my mom who was out there visiting friends. Because she loves flowers so much, we started our weekend exploring the amazing blooms at Adelman Peony Gardens.

I had never seen so many varieties before. The fields were covered in blooming peonies and with very few people out and about.

One of my favorites (of many) is this pink peony below. If you’re interested in adding any of their peonies to your garden, they also sell fully grown potted plants. According to my mom’s friends, they grow easily and prolifically in Portland. If you’re craving peonies, but don’t have a garden either, Trader Joe’s sells bunches at $7.99. They also sold individual stems here. Just wishing I could have brought some home! Once bloomed, they spanned about 5-6” in diameter. Crazy right?

More than anything, it was good to spend some quality time with my mom and see her so happy.

I’m still sorting through pictures, but will post more on our recent trip to Portland soon!

With the busy work weeks and the rainy weather, we’ve been finding ourselves wanting to unwind at home. We’ve been bundling up in blankets on our sofa, doing a little web browsing, reading, and watching Netflix. Here are a few finds that might brighten your rainy weekend.

We headed into Sequoia National Park for a casual day hike at Paradise Creek Trail. We were greeted by a winter wonderland with snow covered trees, mountains, and rolling hills. As the snow continued to fall in large flakes, the world around us turned white.

We drove out to the Sequoias for a weekend of snowshoeing among some of the biggest trees in the world. We created our own path through the forest, hiking over five to ten feet of fresh powder in peaceful solitude created by the sanctuary of snow, trees, and sky.